WASHINGTON — President Trump promised an inaugural address focused on “unity,” but what he delivered was more of a formal-suited campaign speech, full of promises and anger at his opponents. There were few gestures towards national reconciliation.
“For the American people, January 20, 2025 is Liberation Day,” he said. This means liberation from the Democratic Party’s government, which (in his words) “wrapped power and wealth from the people while leaving the pillars of society broken.”
“From this moment on, America’s decline will end,” he promised.
He also hinted at what was behind his criminal prosecution and two assassination attempts. “Those who tried to stop our cause took away my freedom and actually tried to take my life.”
Parts of President Trump’s speech were a near-repeat of his 2017 inaugural address, in which he spoke of “American carnage.”
To be fair, the new president also offers a hopeful vision, embodied in the promises he made during the campaign.
“America’s Golden Age begins now,” he said. And for voters already convinced that Trump will make America great again, this was a provocative list. He promised not only to stop inflation, but also to lower prices. Increase manufacturing jobs and raise auto production to record highs. and end illegal immigration quickly and completely.
And to give his administration a dramatic start, he signed executive orders that banned immigrants from applying for asylum, abolished “birthright citizenship,” and opened more federal lands and waters to oil and gas drilling. Then he said. The federal government declares in an official document that it recognizes only “two genders, male and female.”
He also promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico, this time officially, the “Gulf of America.”
Some of the orders are certain to be challenged in court. Others will be largely symbolic. But they seemed intended to convey an image of unstoppable momentum.
His inauguration, his second speech on Capitol Hill (in which he called one critic a “crying lunatic” and another “guilty as hell”), and a flurry of executive orders The first day of his second term confirmed that there is no such thing as Trump 2.0. .
But we may see a Trump 1.5 even more organized than the disorganized Trump of his first term.
It turns out that by “unity,” Trump meant not bipartisanship but uniform support behind the policies and goals he campaigned on.
“My recent election is mandatory,” he said. “As our victory showed, the entire country is rapidly coming together in our cause.”
But that’s just wishy-washy salesmanship. Yes, he won the popular vote, but just shy of 50%. But a series of polls have shown that public support for Mr. Trump’s policies (a “mandate” in the usual sense) is not as strong as Mr. Trump has claimed.
An Associated Press poll this month found that eight in 10 American adults support President Trump’s goal of deporting illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes, but oppose deporting everyone else. It turns out that less than half of people do. Only 3 in 10 people agree with President Trump’s proposal to abolish birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
The poll also found that only 3 in 10 people support his plan to open federal lands to oil and gas drilling.
There is another problem with the mission claimed by the president.
Polls show voters’ top priorities are lowering prices and strengthening borders. In these respects, Mr. Trump has set what appear to be impossibly high standards for his performance.
He said he would order his cabinet to “rapidly reduce costs and prices.”
Thanks to the border policy, “all illegal entry will be stopped immediately,” he promised.
And, in his most utopian moment, he promised that the restoration of American military power would “stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to an angry, violent and totally unpredictable world.” did.
“My proudest legacy would be as a peacebuilder and unifier,” he said.
These are admirable goals, and if President Trump can achieve them, he will be rightly celebrated as a peacemaker and unifier.
However, proposing a noble goal and realizing it are two different things.
Just ask Joe Biden.
